A carafe, a glass and a bottle of Chateau du Grand Moueys red wine are displayed in the tasting room of the Chateau in Capian in France. (Reuters/Caroline Blumberg)

Scientists have homed in on how resveratrol -- a chemical commonly found in red wine and chocolate -- works to prevent cell aging, which could eventually lead to the development of synthetic drug treatments for obesity, diabetes, cancer, and other conditions, according to new research published in
Science.

Though researchers have been looking at resveratrol for years, this new research, from Harvard Medical School, is considered a breakthrough in understanding the chemical's potential to increase the activity of a protein called SIRT1, which helps fuel the power-producing parts of cells and in turn may fight age-related illnesses like cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes.

"This was the killer experiment," said David Sinclair, PhD, senior study author and genetics professor at Harvard Medical School, in a press release. "There is no rational alternative explanation other than resveratrol directly activates SIRT1 in cells. Now that we know the exact location on SIRT1 where and how resveratrol works, we can engineer even better molecules that more precisely and effectively trigger the effects of resveratrol."
Much previous research on resveratrol's potential was too lab-specific, scientists say, and not applicable to human health. This new finding solidifies resveratrol's potential for cell rejuvenation, and gives researchers a way to figure out which genes and amino acids will allow resveratrol to promote production of SIRT1.

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"SIRT1 is like a Pac-Man that removes these proteins and tells other proteins to go out and repair the cell," explained Dr. Sinclair, in the LA Times.

"We discovered a signature for activation that is in fact found in the cell and doesn't require these other synthetic groups," said study author Basil Hubbard, PhD, in the press release. "This was a critical result, which allowed us to bridge the gap between our biochemical and physiological findings.

Enzymes like SIRT1 are naturally triggered by diet and exercise, but activators like resveratrol -- developed into drugs -- could further strengthen their chemical activity and disease-combating capability. "Ultimately, these drugs would treat one disease, but unlike drugs of today, they would prevent 20 others," Sinclair told the UK's Daily Mail." In effect, they would slow aging."

"In the history of pharmaceuticals, there has never been a drug that binds to a protein to make it run faster in the way that resveratrol activates SIRT1," Sinclair asserts in the release. "Almost all drugs either slow or block them."

In the long term, researchers believe synthetic variants of resveratrol, oral or topical, will be part of treatments for disorders ranging from heart and liver disease to Alzheimer's and Parkinson's to muscle, bone, and skin inflammation. "Things there are also looking promising. We're finding that aging isn't the irreversible affliction that we thought it was," Sinclair told CBS News. "Some of us could live to 150, but we won't get there without more research."

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